I know that when I begin work this August it will be my last year at my current school. I would like to secure a job for 2020 as early as possible. It seems that the recruiting season begins earlier & earlier each year. What is the earliest you or someone you know of have secured a position for the following school year?
Is October or November to early to begin actively looking, or are there schools who will be hiring at that time? I know GRC has a Dubai fair in November. Is it worth going to that, or should I hold out until January and go to the Search fair in Bangkok?
When do schools begin hiring?
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secondplace
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:40 pm
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
I would get your Search profile finalised/activated asap.
Schools will begin posting as soon as they know what positions they need to fill. A lot of schools have some point in November as their intentions for the next year date. But they may know sooner or may be creating new positions.
In terms I fairs I would suggest either Search Bangkok or London. But you might find a position before then and not need to go to the fair.
Once you're all sorted with Search you will start getting the daily updates.
Good luck.
Schools will begin posting as soon as they know what positions they need to fill. A lot of schools have some point in November as their intentions for the next year date. But they may know sooner or may be creating new positions.
In terms I fairs I would suggest either Search Bangkok or London. But you might find a position before then and not need to go to the fair.
Once you're all sorted with Search you will start getting the daily updates.
Good luck.
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
We already made our first hire for 2020-21. It’s unusual, but we knew a certain teacher would be leaving, and we had a great candidate we knew was waiting for an opening at our school, so why not?
For teaching positions, a more typical recruiting season starts slowly in September/ October. Building to a pitch across December, January and February. Slowing down after that, but there’s always the frantic summer season when last-minute openings must be filled.
For teaching positions, a more typical recruiting season starts slowly in September/ October. Building to a pitch across December, January and February. Slowing down after that, but there’s always the frantic summer season when last-minute openings must be filled.
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GrumblesMcGee
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:53 pm
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
Given my experience last year on the market, I'll echo sid's timeline.
In terms of recommended courses of action (not knowing your background), I'd register with ISS-Schrole and keep my eyes open on sites like TES.
If you've already coughed up the money for Search, go ahead and use their database (hey, you've paid quite a lot for it) and there's no harm in keeping your profile there up to date, as some recruiters will look you up there even if you aren't applying through Search. But if you haven't yet (re)activated I'd suggest you stick with ISS-Schrole, as the cost is far lower and your service/protection is better. Check out the discussion boards and you'll see all sorts of horror stories of Search throwing candidates under the bus when disputes arise, being unresponsive/unhelpful, etc. There are some similar stories about all the major players (including ISS), but you find it on a far greater scale with Search; and you find folks (myself included) who have had recent apples-to-apples comparisons of their interactions with one agency vs. another, with Search coming out at the bottom.
But (full disclosure), that's just my perspective. And I have a stubborn streak when it comes to financially supporting (i.e. voting with my wallet by giving Search $200+ and then thousands in commissions) or enabling more market share (i.e. furthering Search's position in IE by running my candidacy through them) if there are more ethical alternatives. Others take a more transactional approach to the market, and that's their prerogative.
In terms of recommended courses of action (not knowing your background), I'd register with ISS-Schrole and keep my eyes open on sites like TES.
If you've already coughed up the money for Search, go ahead and use their database (hey, you've paid quite a lot for it) and there's no harm in keeping your profile there up to date, as some recruiters will look you up there even if you aren't applying through Search. But if you haven't yet (re)activated I'd suggest you stick with ISS-Schrole, as the cost is far lower and your service/protection is better. Check out the discussion boards and you'll see all sorts of horror stories of Search throwing candidates under the bus when disputes arise, being unresponsive/unhelpful, etc. There are some similar stories about all the major players (including ISS), but you find it on a far greater scale with Search; and you find folks (myself included) who have had recent apples-to-apples comparisons of their interactions with one agency vs. another, with Search coming out at the bottom.
But (full disclosure), that's just my perspective. And I have a stubborn streak when it comes to financially supporting (i.e. voting with my wallet by giving Search $200+ and then thousands in commissions) or enabling more market share (i.e. furthering Search's position in IE by running my candidacy through them) if there are more ethical alternatives. Others take a more transactional approach to the market, and that's their prerogative.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
We typically reactivate with Search in early to mid-August, and then start applying as jobs start showing up soon after activation. Many schools are actually posting jobs in September and then those jobs are never seen again. If you want in on them, be active by then. I recommend Search, but as Grumbles is an ISS/Schrole person, if you do choose to go with them, the same paradigm holds true. Be active by mid to late August. Hope this helps.
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
End of October or November if you are a stellar high school candidate. January for everyone else. If you are a veteran teacher, apply on Schrole or the school website. I wouldn't waste money on these recruitment middlemen. They are good for nothing.
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
Thanks for your responses. I'm already registered with Search. Because I am based in the UK, I didn't have to pay the registration fee that they charge. Plus, it was easy to just reactive my file. I have many old recommendations on there with former administrators that I have since lost touch with.
I also registered with ISS Schrole, but they don't seem to have as many schools as Search does, so I think it may be a good thing that I am with Search too.
Another free service was GRC (Global Recruitment Collaborative) so I signed on with them too. They have a very early job fair in November, but since it's rather new, I don't know anyone who has found a job through them. Anyone have any information about them? The job fair is free, but it would involve travelling to Dubai.....
I also registered with ISS Schrole, but they don't seem to have as many schools as Search does, so I think it may be a good thing that I am with Search too.
Another free service was GRC (Global Recruitment Collaborative) so I signed on with them too. They have a very early job fair in November, but since it's rather new, I don't know anyone who has found a job through them. Anyone have any information about them? The job fair is free, but it would involve travelling to Dubai.....
Response
A couple years in advance in the case of some leadership appointments but yes ISs will sometimes take advantage of an opportunity over the summer or in Spring for a vacancy thats over a year away. Typically though intent letters are required in early October (its creeping up to late September). Early recruiting, starts in Late October, Early November. ISs do recruit during that time, but its typically early for them, what you find is 1st/Elite tier ISs that may only have 1 or 2 vacancies for the entire recruiting cycle reach out to superstar ITs. The other group thats recruiting is ISs from hardship and lower third tier ISs trying to get ITs under contract before they get to the peak fair events and realize their marketability.
Peak Recruiting starts in January after the winter holiday with the BKK fair and ends in early February with the SF/NY (SA/ISS) fair (typically wherever the last ISS F2F fair is), historically it was the BOS fair, as that fair was the last of the mega fairs (the other two being the SA/ISS BKK fair, and the SA/CIS LON fair, which run back to back of one another), the BOS fair was ISS and SA, and then ISS moved to SF. There is some debate on whether the ISS/AASSA ATL fair should be considered a mega fair.
After peak recruiting there is a lull until about April/May when the EU recruiting picks up, and then the summer shuffle ends the yearly recruiting cycle.
You should start by contacting your associate and getting what they want organized, so that you can activate your profile sooner rather than later. The rule is you go to the most competitive fair you an get an invite for.
ISS is more the boutique recruiting experience, whereas SA is more the IKEA experience. ISS has evolved though, that boutique experience is the consultant managed service thats relatively buried, as compared to the ISS/Schole Advantage experience which is more like a jobs board with some fairs.
GRC was originally a swap meet type of fair between a small number of hardship ISs that dont get a lot of attention at the premium recruiting fairs. Why stand around at a table no one ants to visit or interview with you for just to pay SA a invoicing fee. At their inception there wasnt much positive to say about them, and @Walter was a strong advocate for them, at one time there was talk that ISs that joined the GRC would be banned from SA, but they have really come a long way. Its free for both ITs and ISs, simple profiles, less reference driven and more focused on endorsement (would you hire again or not), and its pretty transparent (you must register with your IS email address). They have two fairs both in November, which puts them very early in the recruiting cycle, and there are still a lot of hardship ISs repped by GRC. Its difficult to say what disadvantages you would have by registering. The scenarios where registering with GRC would be an advantage:
1) If your a GRC IT and your looking at a particular GRC IS and your leadership actually really know each other. Thats really what GRC does, why pay invoice fees to a premium agency when all that was really needed was getting the IT and the IS aware of their mutual needs and wants for one another.
2) Youre comfortable with hardship locations and your not very selective. Again, why pay recruitment fees to end up with an appointment at an IS that would have hired you with a direct application, GRC is just making ITs and recruiters aware of the marketplace without all the work of visiting individual IS application portals or cost of placements that would otherwise be low hanging fruit.
3) Youre seriously trying to avoid recruitment costs because your not fully committed to a new position, or your just very frugal. There are cheap alternatives to premium agencies but there arent a whole lot of free, GRC is one of the free.
4) Youre more focused on the long road, and see GRC as a networking opportunity, much like LinkedIn for a very niche subset of IE.
The disadvantages:
1) You cant really do so while keeping your current IS in the grey.
2) Its a very small sub section of IE ISs, and a lot of them are hardship ISs or lower tier ISs. Like some job services its easy to focus on those handful of elite/first tier ISs and think this is a back channel 'in', but theyre more like bait or a shill to lure ITs in. There isnt one of those elite tier ISs you couldnt just apply to directly, but GRC makes the process more efficient.
Peak Recruiting starts in January after the winter holiday with the BKK fair and ends in early February with the SF/NY (SA/ISS) fair (typically wherever the last ISS F2F fair is), historically it was the BOS fair, as that fair was the last of the mega fairs (the other two being the SA/ISS BKK fair, and the SA/CIS LON fair, which run back to back of one another), the BOS fair was ISS and SA, and then ISS moved to SF. There is some debate on whether the ISS/AASSA ATL fair should be considered a mega fair.
After peak recruiting there is a lull until about April/May when the EU recruiting picks up, and then the summer shuffle ends the yearly recruiting cycle.
You should start by contacting your associate and getting what they want organized, so that you can activate your profile sooner rather than later. The rule is you go to the most competitive fair you an get an invite for.
ISS is more the boutique recruiting experience, whereas SA is more the IKEA experience. ISS has evolved though, that boutique experience is the consultant managed service thats relatively buried, as compared to the ISS/Schole Advantage experience which is more like a jobs board with some fairs.
GRC was originally a swap meet type of fair between a small number of hardship ISs that dont get a lot of attention at the premium recruiting fairs. Why stand around at a table no one ants to visit or interview with you for just to pay SA a invoicing fee. At their inception there wasnt much positive to say about them, and @Walter was a strong advocate for them, at one time there was talk that ISs that joined the GRC would be banned from SA, but they have really come a long way. Its free for both ITs and ISs, simple profiles, less reference driven and more focused on endorsement (would you hire again or not), and its pretty transparent (you must register with your IS email address). They have two fairs both in November, which puts them very early in the recruiting cycle, and there are still a lot of hardship ISs repped by GRC. Its difficult to say what disadvantages you would have by registering. The scenarios where registering with GRC would be an advantage:
1) If your a GRC IT and your looking at a particular GRC IS and your leadership actually really know each other. Thats really what GRC does, why pay invoice fees to a premium agency when all that was really needed was getting the IT and the IS aware of their mutual needs and wants for one another.
2) Youre comfortable with hardship locations and your not very selective. Again, why pay recruitment fees to end up with an appointment at an IS that would have hired you with a direct application, GRC is just making ITs and recruiters aware of the marketplace without all the work of visiting individual IS application portals or cost of placements that would otherwise be low hanging fruit.
3) Youre seriously trying to avoid recruitment costs because your not fully committed to a new position, or your just very frugal. There are cheap alternatives to premium agencies but there arent a whole lot of free, GRC is one of the free.
4) Youre more focused on the long road, and see GRC as a networking opportunity, much like LinkedIn for a very niche subset of IE.
The disadvantages:
1) You cant really do so while keeping your current IS in the grey.
2) Its a very small sub section of IE ISs, and a lot of them are hardship ISs or lower tier ISs. Like some job services its easy to focus on those handful of elite/first tier ISs and think this is a back channel 'in', but theyre more like bait or a shill to lure ITs in. There isnt one of those elite tier ISs you couldnt just apply to directly, but GRC makes the process more efficient.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1171
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
The list of schools on the GRC website is impressive, a lot of the tier 1 schools are on there, and about half of their schools are higher tier. Whether those schools use GRC to hire most or any of their new ITs is doubtful though. But some will do, and registering is free, so you could give it a go.
Search has more tier 1 schools than ISS, and more schools overall. But of course you might not necessarily be looking for a tier 1 school, but even then, Search usually has more options. I wouldn't mind spending money to register at both. If it lands me a great job, it's worth the investment. So far I've only used Search though.
Personally, I always have a shortlist of ISs that I would like to work at if my current school ever takes turn for the worse. For fairs I just look at which fair will have has the most of those schools represented (with a job opening for me), and it's always been either the SA Bangkok or the SA London fair.
Search has more tier 1 schools than ISS, and more schools overall. But of course you might not necessarily be looking for a tier 1 school, but even then, Search usually has more options. I wouldn't mind spending money to register at both. If it lands me a great job, it's worth the investment. So far I've only used Search though.
Personally, I always have a shortlist of ISs that I would like to work at if my current school ever takes turn for the worse. For fairs I just look at which fair will have has the most of those schools represented (with a job opening for me), and it's always been either the SA Bangkok or the SA London fair.
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secondplace
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:40 pm
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
I always find it surprising that some people aren't willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars registering for a service that will give you access to your future job. It seems money well worth spending.
Yes, the job fairs can prove to be expensive and beyond what people can afford. But isn't this more reason to get signed up early and secure a job through Skype interviews etc?
Yes, the job fairs can prove to be expensive and beyond what people can afford. But isn't this more reason to get signed up early and secure a job through Skype interviews etc?
Discussion
The GRC IS list isnt impressive and far less than half their ISs are upper tier.
SA and ISS have about the same number of tier 1 ISs, but SA has more ISS, though that means a lot more of them are lower tier ISs.
It MIGHT give you your future job, a future job might be one holly independent of a premium agency in its entirety. An IT with a very broad job search is going to find a lot of efficiency with using a premium agency. If an IT ha a very narrow job search than they can truly save some coin using other services and managing th job search themselves.
SA has the fairs if thats a primary factor in your recruitment strategy.
It really depends what a candidate is looking for, a candidate who for example is ONLY interested in going to France is probably better off waiting to register later in the cycle such as Spring when those vacancies appear unless theres a French IS going tot he fair with a vacancy in your teaching field, otherwise your burning time on the three year registration thats likely to take multiple years if ever getting an offer.
SA and ISS have about the same number of tier 1 ISs, but SA has more ISS, though that means a lot more of them are lower tier ISs.
It MIGHT give you your future job, a future job might be one holly independent of a premium agency in its entirety. An IT with a very broad job search is going to find a lot of efficiency with using a premium agency. If an IT ha a very narrow job search than they can truly save some coin using other services and managing th job search themselves.
SA has the fairs if thats a primary factor in your recruitment strategy.
It really depends what a candidate is looking for, a candidate who for example is ONLY interested in going to France is probably better off waiting to register later in the cycle such as Spring when those vacancies appear unless theres a French IS going tot he fair with a vacancy in your teaching field, otherwise your burning time on the three year registration thats likely to take multiple years if ever getting an offer.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1171
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Discussion
I wonder what you would find an impressive list then...
They have the 2 best schools in Japan,
they have the 2 best schools in Thailand,
the best school in Taiwan,
they have the 4 best schools in China,
the best school in Hong Kong,
they have the 2 best schools in Vietnam,
the best school in South Korea,
one of the best schools in Singapore (one of the 3 tied for best).
And these are still only the more popular countries in Asia.
Maybe a complete list is better...
They have the best school in (get comfortable, this may take a while):
Argentina
Bangladesh
Belgium
Brazil
Burkinafaso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Ethiopia
Egypt
Germany (of of the 3 tied for best)
Ghana
Great Britain
Guyana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Israel
Italy
Japan
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Madagascar
Mexico
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nigeria
Oman
Panama
Peru
Phillipines
Poland
Qatar
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE (Abu Dhabi)
UAE (Dubai)
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
In quite a few countries they also represent the second-best IS, some of which are also higher tier.
And those are only the countries where I know which school most ITs consider to be the best IS (I have no idea which schools in Ukraine or Cayman Islands are best).
I know your list of higher tier schools is very different from what most ITs's lists, so you might not find it impressive, but I do.
That's probably also why you think ISS has the same number of tier 1 ISs as SA.
But as mentioned, I do believe most of the top tier schools don't use GRC as their main method of recruiting ITs, so I would use SA rather than GRC if I had to choose. But with GRC being free I don't have to choose, and I can use both.
They have the 2 best schools in Japan,
they have the 2 best schools in Thailand,
the best school in Taiwan,
they have the 4 best schools in China,
the best school in Hong Kong,
they have the 2 best schools in Vietnam,
the best school in South Korea,
one of the best schools in Singapore (one of the 3 tied for best).
And these are still only the more popular countries in Asia.
Maybe a complete list is better...
They have the best school in (get comfortable, this may take a while):
Argentina
Bangladesh
Belgium
Brazil
Burkinafaso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Ecuador
Ethiopia
Egypt
Germany (of of the 3 tied for best)
Ghana
Great Britain
Guyana
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Israel
Italy
Japan
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Madagascar
Mexico
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nigeria
Oman
Panama
Peru
Phillipines
Poland
Qatar
Russia
Rwanda
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE (Abu Dhabi)
UAE (Dubai)
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
In quite a few countries they also represent the second-best IS, some of which are also higher tier.
And those are only the countries where I know which school most ITs consider to be the best IS (I have no idea which schools in Ukraine or Cayman Islands are best).
I know your list of higher tier schools is very different from what most ITs's lists, so you might not find it impressive, but I do.
That's probably also why you think ISS has the same number of tier 1 ISs as SA.
But as mentioned, I do believe most of the top tier schools don't use GRC as their main method of recruiting ITs, so I would use SA rather than GRC if I had to choose. But with GRC being free I don't have to choose, and I can use both.
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
I was under the impression that GRC could be considered somewhat exclusive because you have to have taught at one of the member schools to sign up. And most of the member schools are what would be considered top tier.
Does anyone how difficult is it for a school to get added to GRC?
Does anyone how difficult is it for a school to get added to GRC?
Re: When do schools begin hiring?
indogal wrote:
> I was under the impression that GRC could be considered somewhat exclusive
> because you have to have taught at one of the member schools to sign up.
> And most of the member schools are what would be considered top tier.
>
> Does anyone how difficult is it for a school to get added to GRC?
i don't think you have to be a member of those schools anymore to attend.
and the fair itself was a bit of an unknown when it started but is now a decent place to secure an early position.
their list of schools is fairly impressive, and the model is equally so - at least in my opinion.
if you're already in the gulf or near there, it is certainly worth it.
v.
> I was under the impression that GRC could be considered somewhat exclusive
> because you have to have taught at one of the member schools to sign up.
> And most of the member schools are what would be considered top tier.
>
> Does anyone how difficult is it for a school to get added to GRC?
i don't think you have to be a member of those schools anymore to attend.
and the fair itself was a bit of an unknown when it started but is now a decent place to secure an early position.
their list of schools is fairly impressive, and the model is equally so - at least in my opinion.
if you're already in the gulf or near there, it is certainly worth it.
v.